the Empathy List #52: Fall on Your Face

The Beginning of Lent & Burning Your Skinny Jeans on Your Tween's Advice

Hey friend, Liz here.

This week has been one of examination in the Grant household.

As professing Christians, any public scandal amongst other Christians feels personal. And in this season, evangelicals have been falling from grace left and right. Apparently, the people leading churches aren’t who they professed to be, nor are they remotely similar to the man they professed to follow.

(The story that I can’t stop thinking about is the Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias and the dozens of claims of manipulation, sexual favors, and abuse committed by him—#1 on the Envy List this week. Read more…)

Jesus was homeless, got on his hands and knees to wash the mud off his followers’ feet, and proved that love looks like losing all you have, rather than holding tight to the life you want. In contrast, some Christian leaders are using the power afforded by their positions to amass wealth, to hedge themselves against criticism, and to abuse those beneath them.

This isn’t just a crisis of the faith,…